Anyone have success breeding Prehensile Tailed Skinks?

Don't worry about what others might think about the little guys appearance. This happens very often &, normally, it 'may' have to do with a stress factor. Such as incompatibility with an enclosure mate. Like I said Kisha, I don't say too much on husbandry with you because you have always been extremely diligent & precise with humidity issues, diet & so forth. I have a female now going thru something similar to this. The only difference is that she had a baby about 6 months ago & now seems unable to bounce back. I have since quarantined her as I suggested to you & she seems to have improved while gaining 10 grams in a week. This perplexed me but then I thought of de Vosjoli's book & that section when he mentions pairs or circulus' that once got along only to no longer be compatible. I hope this isn't the case but.... she's been thru the gamut of meds for parasites, etc. just like your youngster. I really, really think it is more common than we think. I'm hoping we'll hear from others about this subject. It almost seems like a 'wasting away' even though they are eating. You can just tell somethings not right & you wrack your brain about any changes in environment..anything & everything is fair game. I have been at a loss but maybe with this exchange of info we might be able to come up with something.

Thanks for your posts,

Sherri

Ok, I think I have attached photos of the quarantine tank I set up. There is a heating pad under the water bowl, like Sherri suggested. I put some sweet potato in also to see if he eats more while isolated. I have also attached a photo of the other twin for comparison, the tape measure is obviously an attempt to show scale. I'll let you know if I have any further observations.

Kisha

Also, to avoid this thread going too far off the original topic, here are the pics of my 2 successes. I mis-spoke earlier when I said the 2nd baby was born in February, it was actually March. I forgot, but you can clearly see the placental sack on the 2nd babies 1st picture taken early the morning of March 10th, later that afternoon I had time to take more pictures. Anyone want to add their guesses about sex??? I think the first baby (January 05) looks male, and the 2nd one looks female. But I am by no means an expert and I have been known to be wrong before

Kisha

You're right, we probably need to start a new thread! I have so many comments but it is off the original topic of breeding. I'm glad you posted the pics of the newborns because it should help clarify what the placenta should 'normally' look like. There was a discussion earlier about yolk sacs or masses either in the form of a later stage miscarriage in which the baby is almost fully developed -vs- the cylindrical yolk mass that is an early miscarriage or 'slug'. Interestingly, on placentas, I have always read & the consensus has always been that the mother consumes it right after giving birth. Until recently, we assumed this was so until Brian observed a baby actually consuming the placenta. This would account for the baby not eating until day 3 or 4.

On the pics of the newborns. They are gorgeous! I would guess pic 1 is a male also but the second one, i'm not so sure.

Your set-up looks great with the tupperware. Your problem skink does appear to be a male, by the way, but because of the weight issue when figuring the ratio of girth to width of head, it can be deceiving. But, yes, he is frightfully thin with the hip bones being very prominent & the spine starting to protrude. My female that I mentioned in a previous post looks like this too. I couldn't tell in the picture but you stated something about his scales & the overall texture of his skin. Is he extremely dry, especially at the base of his tail? Are his scales raised slightly where he almost has a dry 'corncob' texture to him when you run your fingers over him? -Or-, last question, Looking at individual scales in the light, do you see a pattern of small half-moon ridges or shapes? This is very hard to describe but if you haven't already noticed it, it should be easy to see what i'm talking about.

I couldn't make an educated guess on the sex of your healthier twin because of the angle of the picture. What a contrast though! I will also say that from what I can see, it appears your twins 'might' be Corucia zebrata alfredschmidti. If you get a chance sometime to get a closer shot of each of them, especially the head area, i'll know for sure. For sexing, a full body vertical shot where one can view the head in proportion to the girth normally works. You measure from ear opening to ear opening across the top of the head & divide it by the width of the widest area of the girth. The exact formula is posted under Ernie's question on sexing Corucia.

Anyway, thanks for the pictures. Keep us posted on the progress of your little friend.

Sherri

Attached is a picture of my first baby, born last November.

I have three other females I am pretty sure are pregnant now -- should know for sure in another month or so! (Stay tuned!)

-- Celeste

Baby "M" (so temporarily named for the "M" shaped markings on her back) arrived sometime this weekend. Pretty sure this little beauty is a girl. (She is *so* sweet!)

-- Celeste

Congrats Celeste! She is beautiful. I agree, female. It's so exciting to have a new baby around. I'm hoping for at least one from my breeding groups this year, I'm guessing they are on an everyother year schedule, we'll see. My last 2 were after the new year so I probably have a while to wait.

Kisha

Congrats on such a beautiful baby! I am waiting for the pitter patter of tiny feet as well from my pair. This makes me even more excited! Karen

YIPPEEE!!! The second of a hoped-for three babies finally put in an appearance last night. Born recently, as it still has the umbilical scab. This one is the offspring of Krishna and Maati (the one last month was the offspring of Krishna and Radha).

Can't tell for sure if this is a male or female. I kind of think female, but that may just be wishful thinking. Has much more of an attitude than the baby born last month. Also lots of turquoise.

The third female I was certain was also pregnant doesn't look as pregnant anymore, but I haven't seen any sign of a baby in that enclosure -- will have to search that enclosure (that is a different breeding group).

-- Celeste

OOOOHHHHH! Who doesn't just love a baby! So beautiful. Congratulations! Thanks for the pictures. Karen